So, I kind of figure from the lack of topics concerning this that most of y'all didn't bother getting one, at least not yet. Actually typing this from one right now. Anyone else pick one up? How are you liking it so far? I've been enjoying Nintendo Land a lot more than I thougt I would, the asynchronous games are a lot of fun in a party while the single player games are significantly harder (for the most part) than I thought they'd be, if not terribly long.

I got it and finished off bowser in two days (albeit, that was pretty much 10 hours straight) but just got the last star coin yesterday. I would say its overall difficulty is considerably harder than nsmb wii but not the hardest 2D mario game imo. Very fun and if you play in groups the tablet multiplayer mode makes for a great entry point for those not as used to gaming.

We picked a Deluxe up on release night (each Walmart was only allocated 4 to sell after pre-orders were filled, but the lines were nonexistent).

But it won't be opened till the 25th, when my stepdaughter's mind will be blown. She has NO idea she's getting it, and didn't even ask for it. She's just expecting some games for her Wii 1.0

"No I don't want the Ask toolbar! No I don't want Bing as my default search! No I don't want to make Chrome my default browser!""Good grief, man! WHAT are you trying to install on that poor computer?""Antivirus."

Skullzer wrote:Ive heard that the initial setup can take over an hour...so I would suggest opening it, updating it, and testing it out before hand.

Confirmed. One of the first things the system wants to do is download a rather large update. Then, when (if) you put in the Nintendo Land disk, it downloads another large update. My internet connection is only about 3 MB max, and it took me well over two hours to get past all this.

I can only imagine how long it would take to update the Wii U on Christmas Day. Everybody and their brother will be updating theirs at the same time, potentially slowing down an already slow process due to the update servers getting hammered.

Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it doesn't work, you can always hit them with it.

It took me about 1/2 an hour to download the 1GB patch on launch day starting at about 9am CST and another 10 minutes for the Wii U to install it (which I assume included unpacking it to the full 5GB and other housecleaning). That was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of about 350k of them at the same time. I expect Christmas will be closer to 2 million of these thing simultaneously (albeit, world-wide), plus the second (and maybe 3rd for TVii) patches after that. More in the know parents will have patched the thing and repacked it but that will be a small minority I'm sure.

Based on the horror stories of people around the internet, my guess is that it downloads and installs at the same time, kind of updating all piecemeal, and the last few minutes are spent with housekeeping chores.

My daughter has been having a blast with the regular Wii. I even busted out NiGHTS: Journey into Dreams and New Super Mario Wii tonight after she went to bed. I don't see a Wii U in my future right away, but maybe eventually.

Anybody want to comment on regular Wii games on the device? Does it upscale? And do you see added detail, or does it just make the jaggies sharper? The former would be awesome. The latter not so much.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

I had the original wii. Played it non-stop for hours on end! Some games were executed perfectly with the motion controls. Others...not so much. The game selection of the wii U looks like nintendo is trying to tailor to the older croud with releases like zombie U. Doubt I'll be getting it though, because I've been slowing drifting away from consoles and using programs such as steam.

Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. -Bill Gates

Black Applesauce wrote:I had the original wii. Played it non-stop for hours on end! Some games were executed perfectly with the motion controls. Others...not so much. The game selection of the wii U looks like nintendo is trying to tailor to the older croud with releases like zombie U. Doubt I'll be getting it though, because I've been slowing drifting away from consoles and using programs such as steam.

Welcome, first off

I think Nintendo pigeon-holed themselves during the OG Wii era as having a "kiddy console" when there are just some fantastic games without tons of violence and sexuality (which I guess "tons of violence and sexuality" = "mature" nowadays) and real innovation. Unfortunately there are just as many - if not more - steaming piles alongside it. For every Boom Bloxx or Okami, there's a Chicken Shoot, Game Party, or Red Steel (which to be fair tried to do something great and just failed).

And if you like crazy violence, there's crazy violence to be had. No More Heroes is spectacular. Never got the sequel, though.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

I've been browsing tech report for well over a year now, and these recent radeon giveaways have urged me to get off my rump and actually make an account to enter and to actually converse instead of being a wallflower staring at my screen not talking. I had all the great games that sold with the wii like mario cart, boom blox, and other amazing exclusives. The wii was revolutionary in it's time some 7, 8 years ago. It was the first console to succeed at motion gaming. The titles that came with it were very fitting, using the motion controls effectively. It's a shame most hardcore gamers overlooked the console, branding it as kiddy. A video game shouldn't have to have blood, guns, and genitals flying all over the screen to appeal to older, more "hardcore" gamers. No more heroes is a great example of a very mature game put on a console branded for family use. I guess you can't please the whole gaming crowd. :/

Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. -Bill Gates

You know what else? 192MB doesn't hold a lot of sound effects or code or textures. The Wii controller didn't really do anything for me. Innovative? Sure. Fun? It's alright. But I'd rather use a controller for most games I play.

I could only afford one console, so I got the one I wanted. And now it too is old junk, so I traded it in for a Nexus 7.

You seem to be saying that the only way something can be fun is if it's on the bleeding edge of technology, and I'm here to tell you that's not the case. Then again, I grew up on console games. At the height of the video games crash in 1984, I got an Atari VCS for Christmas and it wasn't until around 15 years later when Starcraft came out that I seriously gave PC gaming a lot of time and effort. So I'm used to stuff being "behind". And it's a lot of fun down here where there's not any technological snobbery. The same is true of the PS3 and Xbox 360 as well, just FWIW.

It goes without saying (or it should, anyway) that "enjoyment derived" is what sells a console, not the - frankly, abstract - idea of what's under the hood. I don't care what kind of optical medium games ship on, or how much flash storage the console has, or what kind of limitations are imposed on downloadable games, or whatever. As long as I can enjoy it, I'm there.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

If I dont care about hardware then why would I buy this rather then use a cheap 360? Or for that matter why would I get it not instead of wating for alot of games to get cheap on it and for its price to drop? If I dont care about hardware I also dont care for getting the hardware when its spendy now do I?

wintermane666 wrote:If I dont care about hardware then why would I buy this rather then use a cheap 360? Or for that matter why would I get it not instead of wating for alot of games to get cheap on it and for its price to drop? If I dont care about hardware I also dont care for getting the hardware when its spendy now do I?

That depends entirely on how you feel about Nintendo properties or other games that are exclusive to the system. If you love Nintendo then this is a no-brainer.

Also I never said I don't care about any hardware; I said what matters is how I can have fun with it. Control schemes and game quality. For sure it's probably best to wait a bit on anything new, though, so we can avoid teething problems.

Nintendo has some serious problems, no doubt - their ridiculous hardware-tied DRM, for one (Ars had a great write up). There's plenty of other flaws - every games maker has them right now.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

derFunkenstein wrote:You seem to be saying that the only way something can be fun is if it's on the bleeding edge of technology, and I'm here to tell you that's not the case. Then again, I grew up on console games. At the height of the video games crash in 1984, I got an Atari VCS for Christmas and it wasn't until around 15 years later when Starcraft came out that I seriously gave PC gaming a lot of time and effort. So I'm used to stuff being "behind". And it's a lot of fun down here where there's not any technological snobbery. The same is true of the PS3 and Xbox 360 as well, just FWIW.

It goes without saying (or it should, anyway) that "enjoyment derived" is what sells a console, not the - frankly, abstract - idea of what's under the hood. I don't care what kind of optical medium games ship on, or how much flash storage the console has, or what kind of limitations are imposed on downloadable games, or whatever. As long as I can enjoy it, I'm there.

I don't disagree with you, but lots of games are fun. I simply prefer the ones on current gen technology. So that's where I generally spend my money.

(Had to change 'bleeding edge' to 'current gen' since DX11 is three years old as of two months ago.)

Last edited by Savyg on Wed Dec 12, 2012 4:14 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Personally wouldn't jump on the Wii U due to it's expensive "controller", which has a weird layout, the extremely-dated hardware, archaic connectivity, lackluster battery life on the controller, and of course, lack of games.

As far as the Wii goes, after the initial "ooh" factor of wii bowling, nearly every worthwhile game I played was "better' with a standard controller. The wii-mote specific aspects of mario galaxy for example...not worth the pain of us that awful combo. The best game on the system (imo) Xenoblade, looks exponentially better on the Dolphin emulator; it's a shame that such a good game wasn't given a modern presentation.

"graphics don't matter" is one thing, but "graphics looking 2 generations old" is another. Current Wii-U titles match the 360/PS3, and exceed them slightly (sometimes), but what about 2-3 years from now?

wintermane666 wrote:If I dont care about hardware then why would I buy this rather then use a cheap 360? Or for that matter why would I get it not instead of wating for alot of games to get cheap on it and for its price to drop? If I dont care about hardware I also dont care for getting the hardware when its spendy now do I?

Console prices don't often drop a whole lot. Sometimes they do, but it's not something to hedge your bets on.

Also, getting a new console is about getting access to game going forward, since development for the previous console slows and eventually stops. If you're bargain hunting then it makes great sense, since even old games in the $10 bin will still be "new" to you. The better graphics just come with the new territory when upgrades come through.

My own opinion, of course.

"No I don't want the Ask toolbar! No I don't want Bing as my default search! No I don't want to make Chrome my default browser!""Good grief, man! WHAT are you trying to install on that poor computer?""Antivirus."